


Finger Food Is Never Enough

by 51PegasiB



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Eddie and Dan are bros, Getting to Know Each Other, Hungry Venom Symbiote (Marvel), M/M, intellectual snob, intellectual wankery, parties are exhausting, underestimate Eddie Brock at your peril
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2019-08-24 14:03:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16641573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/51PegasiB/pseuds/51PegasiB
Summary: Eddie's life had been through so many ups and downs over the last year. How was it that the result of screwing up a relationship and saving the world is being ignored at a party then rescuing his ex's boyfriend from a bore? He's not sure how or why he feels pretty okay with it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> More of this may or may not happen as I'm feeling it. I fucking loved this movie and there's a lot I'd like to explore about the implications of having a symbiote. This may or may not turn into something shippy, though if it does, it's likely to be more complicated than straightforward Symbrock. Because that's how my brain rolls. 
> 
> Thanks to NienteZero for concrit and to Skymning for general aiding and abetting.

"Actual alien life, right?" the guy had been talking to Dan and ignoring Eddie for the last twenty minutes. "It's probably a miracle we weren't all wiped out by some interstellar pestilence. I can't believe that's what the life foundation was working on. I mean, forget the basic containment of contagions, they clearly weren't cautious enough in any way."

Eddie would have walked away and written off this blowhard ages ago if Dan hadn't been shooting him imploring looks through the whole conversation. He had no idea how he'd become the social rescuer of his girlfriend's boyfriend.

 **EX GIRLFRIEND** , Venom growled in the back of his mind.

"I know," Eddie said.

The guy...what the fuck was his name? Just glanced at Eddie approvingly as though he'd agreed with him then immediately shifted his attention back to Dan.

"That's...well, epidemiology is complicated," Dan hedged.

Eddie couldn't take it anymore. "I'm gonna grab another drink," he said. "You guys want anything?"

Mr. Intellectual Wank nodded and held up his glass. Eddie honestly had no idea what he was drinking, but fuck it, he got what he got. Dan looked pleadingly at him as he walked by. He gave Dan a wink and clapped him on the shoulder. "Be right back," he said.

He took his time, though, even drifting onto the scrap of concrete at the back of the house that counted as a patio to breathe in the air and bask in the quiet.

 **THAT ASSHOLE ONLY KNOWS WHAT HE SEES ON THE NEWS** , said Venom.

"Right? And he's ignoring us."

 **HE THINKS WE'RE MORONS**.

"He doesn't even know you're here," said Eddie. "He think's *I'm* a moron."

 **HE IS THE MORON**.

Eddie sighed. This fucking party was full of people from Annie's new office. The public defenders weren't an eclectic bunch, really. Lawyers were lawyers, even the ones with good intentions. They couldn't stop talking about work, even at a party. But the folks who came with them were a little more random. There were a few extra lawyers - none of them in criminal law. Some coders who had retreated into an upstairs room, also to talk business, Eddie assumed. There was a venture capital guy here on his first and, Eddie suspected, last date with a young woman who had just become a full-fledged member of the office, having passed the bar like the week before.

And then there were the academics. The guy that had Dan cornered was the Big Name Chair of Something at Stanford and he had lost any interest in Eddie when he hadn't been impressed by the chair or the school.

He had stayed in the corner talking to Dan presumably because he was too good to talk to the adjuncts from some other schools who were drinking and dancing in the living room.

And of course Annie was talking work, which left Eddie to play Dan's wingman.

He refilled his own sparkling water, grabbed a bottle of what Dan had been drinking and filled up a red cup for Mr. Wank from a random couple of bottles on the kitchen counter.

 **IT'S PROBABLY DOCTOR WANK** , said Venom, his mind transmitting laughing contempt.

"I don't call Dan doc, I'm not calling this guy doc," Eddie muttered.

When he got back, Dan had his arms crossed defensively in front of him, his back to the wall. The guy was still rabbiting on like he had barely paused for breath.

"I mean...consider it ONTOLOGICALLY, Daniel," Mr. Wank was saying. "An alien symbiote would be like...a reducto ad absurdum of the state the race is putting itself in with all the data-gathering we allow at this point. It could drive a man to madness, the lack of privacy."

"Good point," said Eddie.

 **HEY** , Venom protested.

Mr. Wank barely looked their way as he accepted the cup. "It would be positively Foulcaudian ... a fully internalized panopticon. Always watching over your shoulder. Constant surveillance."

Dan looked like he was going to start burrowing into the wall. Eddie sighed.

"The panopticon is always internal. That's the point," he said.

Mr. Wank slowly turned to look at him. "Huh?"

"According to Foulcaut, the point of the panopticon is that when you're constantly observed, you will limit and discipline yourself, right? Which we all already do, regardless of any alien influence."

Mr. Wank's new cup drew inexorably towards his mouth as Eddie talked. "And we did it before the internet, too. It's basically just what we do. We learn the culture young and unless we're sociopaths, it guides our actions. Because we fear reprisal and just because we care what other people think."

Eddie shrugged. "Don't see how an alien would make that worse. Might even break it open a little."

"How so?" Wank asked.

"Give you the first truly outside perspective you've ever had," Eddie said. "Everyone who can communicate with us here...they learn the culture to be able to communicate, right? Because language is a part of culture. They *can't* give you an outside perspective, not really."

"But that would be true of aliens communicating too," Wank said, smugly."

"Not if there really are symbiotes. It'd be able to be mind to mind. Way more essential...visceral, even."

 **WE LIKE VISCERA**.

Eddie grinned at Venom's commentary.

"Huh. I guess you could say that," Wank acknowledged.

"And the panopticon isn't Foulcault's thing, man. It was Jeremy Bentham's. Foulcault just riffed on it."

Wank rolled his eyes. "Of course. It was the...riff...I was engaging with." He finally raised the cup to his lips and took a sip, horror creeping over his features as he actually tasted it.

"Like that? I made you a little something I learned about the last time I was reporting in Kyrgyzstan. I met this Nepalese bartender who whipped this up. He called it _oslik dzhiza_. I was never sure if that was Russian or Nepali."

"It's...interesting," said Wank.

"Anyhow, it was nice talking to you, man. Dan, is it still okay if I borrow that book?"

Dan's eyes flashed gratitude his direction. "Sure thing. Come on up to my office. I'll find it for you."

Mr. Wank seemed happy to be left behind.

As they trooped up the stairs, Eddie asked, "What was that guy's name again?"

"I think it was Nathan. I don't know," Dan admitted. "What's oss lick dshi shah?"

"It's Russian for donkey jizz. Or so my neighbor down the hall told me."

Dan snorted. "You've never been to Kyrgyzstan, have you?"

"Nope," said Eddie.

Dan laughed.

They sat up in Dan's study for a while, chatting. It was funny how used to something you could get, even when it was getting stabbed in the heart, be that literally or figuratively.

 **MORBID**.

 _You were the one talking about viscera earlier_. Eddie thought in reply.

 **THAT'S NOT MORBID. THAT'S DELICIOUS**.

He and Dan actually did have a lot in common, when you came down to it. Which was probably not a surprise, given they both had fallen for Annie.

"Anyway, private practice would pay more, but," Dan shrugged. "I think I'm in hospital work for life...or till my sanity gives out. Whichever."

"I hear you. I can't stop being a journalist, even when I got fired, man."

"Yeah. Some things are jobs."

"And some hound you in the night till you do them," Eddie finished.

Dan chuckled. "Yeah. Something like that."

Dan eyed his bottle and drank the dregs of it, tossing his head all the way back. "Thanks for rescuing me from that guy."

"No problem. I'm betting mister wank is a scourge on parties everywhere."

"Yeah. What a blowhard."

"Unlike us. Right, man?"

Dan laughed. "Yeah. Right. Unlike us. We're a delight."

"A fucking delight," Eddie agreed. They lapsed into a silence. It wasn't entirely awkward, but Eddie broke it anyway. "I think I'm gonna get going, man. Thanks. Nice talking to ya."

"Likewise. Good to see you."

"Say bye to Annie for me, will ya?"

"Sure thing. Ride safe. I don't want to see you in the ER later."

"Don't worry about me."

"I have to. You're like...the only friendly face at these things," said Dan. "Is that weird?"

"What isn't, man?" Eddie shook his hand and left.

 _What isn't_ , he thought as he straddled his bike and put on his helmet.

"You were quiet back there for a while," said Eddie.

 **DAN IS LESS AWFUL THAN WE USED TO THINK**.

"Yeah. I mean, he's a good guy. Genuinely, even."

 **I AM GLAD WE DIDN'T EAT HIM**.

"Me too, buddy. Speaking of..."

**YES. HUNGRY.**

"No shit. Fucking finger food is never enough."

Eddie used his phone to put in for takeout at a place on his way home and also stopped for a fast food drive-through, so when they made it back to the apartment they had quite a pile of food.

Venom manifested out of his shoulder. " **YESssss. Onion rinnnggzzz.** "

"I got you, buddy. Know what you like."

" **We like** ," Venom corrected.

"Yeah. Plenty for both of us," said Eddie. They sat, motoring through the food in record time, eating with both mouths and not having to talk out loud to sift through the party and make note of potential leads they could pull on come Monday.

Venom was trying to get the hang of straws. His mouth and its tendency to hang wide open with all teeth showing made it difficult.

"You're doing good."

" **IT'S TOO SSSLOW.** "

"Lets you savor it. I mean, what's the point of a chocolate milkshake if you're not going to taste it? We might as well get plain milk."

" **NOOOoooo** ," Venom's elongaged neck-stalk coiled around the cup like a python. A very careful python.

"Well, that was a hell of a Saturday," Eddie kicked back onto the sofa. Venom took his boots off and they tossed 'em in the direction of the door.

" **It wasss boring. Parties should just be usss and Dan and Annie.** "

"That barely counts as a party. Anyway, that'd be awkward."

" **NOT compared to mister Wank.** "

"Yeah," said Eddie "Maybe not.

" **PARTIES ARE UGH.** "

Eddie shrugged. "They're better when you can drink."

" **UGH.** "

"It's basically the best way to meet people once you're out of school."

" **We could go to a school**."

"Not a good idea. Human friends have to be around the same age as each other or it's creepy."

" **Mrs. Chen is older than you**."

"Yeah, but I'm not a kid."

" **AH - This is the THING where you coddle hatchlings**."

"Sure. It's that...Anyway the reason school makes it easy is that you're in with a bunch of people who are going through similar experiences. We're not in school."

Venom was quiet for a while, in a thoughtful way. Eddie took the opportunity to clear up the post-takeout mess. He popped a couple of slices of bread in the toaster just for a palate cleanser.

" **We can keep going to parties** ," Venom finally conceded, whilst Eddie was buttering.

"Thanks."

" **But I'm going to keep complaining about it.** "

"I would expect no less," said Eddie. "And I'll keep complaining when you want to eat cute things."

Venom couldn't roll his own white, empty eyes, so he rolled Eddie's. " **COWS ARE CUTE. YOU'RE FULL OF STRANGE PREJUDICSSSSE.** "

"Kind of what humans do, bud. I'm gonna hop in the shower. You sticking with me?"

Sometimes Venom didn't like getting wet and he absorbed back into Eddie's skin, letting Eddie run the bathing process. Tonight, Venom opted to stay out and trailed idle tentacles through the spray as Eddie quickly cleaned up. He even picked up the soap and delivered it back up to Eddie's hand when he dropped it, even though he didn't like the way soap felt.

"Thanks," he said. "So...you guys don't take care of young...yous?"

" **If a symbiote can't fend for itssself, it is considered unworthy of life.** "

"Seems harsh."

" **It is the way we do it. We do hatch near many viable hostsss.** "

"So they get a fighting chance."

" **Exactly.** "

Venom was relaxing into his inside voice. Always took him a while when they'd been out and about.

"Did you have to fight?"

Venom was silent but Eddie got brief flashes of bright, hot pain and a sense of desperation.

"Well, I'm glad you made it here...parasite."

" **STOP THAT!** "

"Loser," Eddie added. "Loser parasite."

" **YOU'RE THE LOSER.** "

Eddie shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe it's both."

" **YOU TAKE IT BACK**."

"Okay, definitely both."

" **THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT EDWARD CHARLES ALLEN BROCK.** "

"I should never have let you see that stuff about my grandma."

" **NOT LIKE YOU COULD KEEP IT HIDDEN FOREVER.** "

"True. Couldn't and...wouldn't want to, really."

Venom pulled back into him and spoke mind to mind. **YOU MEAN IT?** he asked.

"Yeah," said Eddie, still aloud. "If we're going to be stronger together, we have to like...be open. Let it happen, right?"

Venom didn't answer, but Eddie could feel his smug satisfaction. Or...that smug satisfaction belonged to the both of them, together. They were getting the hang of this 'we' business.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Compromise is extra important when there are two of you in the same skin

Eddie started awake with his head already stuck in the fridge.

"Really?" he said.

 **HUNGRY** , was Venom's short reply.

"After all we ate last night?"

 **THAT WAS LAST NIGHT**. Venom didn't even bother to manifest a face to chide him, speaking mind-to-mind.

"All right all right. At least let me cook the eggs."

**FINE BY ME. THEY'RE ALREADY DEAD.**

"They're unfertilized, they were never alive."

**LIKE YOU, BEFORE ME.**

"Hah. Implying you fertilized me? That's freaky, bro."

**WE ARE FREAKY.**

"Compared to what?"

**EVERYONE ELSE.**

"Good."

Breakfast was eaten in relative silence, though Venom's satisfaction at the infusion of protein and fat throbbed through them both felt a little like a positive hum. Eddie tried not to think of it as purring.

"Sunday funday. What do you want to do?"

" **EAT SOMEONE.** "

Eddie sighed. "Or we could...I dunno. Take a ride? Maybe hop across the golden gate to Muir Woods?" He wasn't really playing fair. He knew Venom liked the woods. Especially the redwoods. He was fond, himself. The arching quiet of Muir was like a cathedral except it actually felt like sacred space, which most actual cathedrals didn't to him, anymore.

" **CAN WE CLIMB SOME TREES?** "

"Oh come ON. Work with me here!" Eddie protested.

" **HOW ABOUT FISHING?** "

"Done. Muir woods and fishing. Sounds like a trip."

Eddie suited up and got on the bike. He jammed on the helmet in spite of Venom's protests that they didn't need it. "It's illegal to ride without one in this state. You really want to get pulled over and spend the day with cops who I won't let you eat?"

" **NO** "

"All right then."

As they hit the highway, Eddie felt free. He let out a whoop that got swooped away in the wind. Venom liked his glee, so he did it again.

" **HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE HEIGHTS BUT YOU ALWAYS RODE ON THIS MACHINE EVEN BEFORE WE BONDED?** "

"I love this machine. Always have. And it's a lot easier to park in a city than a fucking SUV."

" **DO MANY EARTH PEOPLE RIDE THESE?** "

"Yeah man, a ton. There's no way of going fast that's completely safe."

" **MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE LET RIOT TAKE THE PLANET AND EAT YOU.** "

"Hah hah. You don't really believe that."

" **NO, BUT ALL HUMANS SEEM TO HAVE A DEATH WISH.** "

"It's not that. We all know we're gonna die. You spend your life trying to avoid it then you don't get to do any living. Then you die anyway."

" **GRIM.** "

"Doesn't make me feel grim. How do I feel?"

" **BUT YOU WON'T DIE, EDDIE. YOU HAVE ME.** "

Eddie felt himself giving a fond smile to the inside of his helmet. "Loser." was all he actually said.

Venom returned the sentiment and imbued it with all the strength of their connection, with the sense of an eye-roll at Eddie's deflection, and with limitless, infinitely malleable affection.

By the time they got to the woods, Eddie was already feeling kind of high from the ride and from the intergalactic emotion-swapping. Taking that ecstasy into the woods filled the day with something deeper and broader.

 **AND TALLER** , Venom thought, staring up at the treetops, longingly through Eddie's eyes.

They'd parked off a side road and hiked into the park from the side, instead of coming in by the visitor's center where bussloads of tourists got dropped off. They were basically alone.

"All right. Climb! But don't eat anything and you drive."

Eddie stretched out and let Venom envelop him and felt the echo of his own glee from the motorcycle ride in Venom's glee at being free to dance through the treetops. " **THE VIEW, EDDIE. THE VIEW. EARTH IS SO PRETTY.** "

 _There's a lot of it,_ he thought. _We should road trip some._

" **I WOULD LIKE THAT.** "

Venom's tongue traced the path of a startled chipmunk, just scenting it, not with any toothy intention.

 _Not even a little tempted?_ Eddie asked.

" **HE'S BARELY A BITE. ANYWAY. FISHHHH.** "

They stayed up there till their stomach started growling, smelling the wind and occasionally leaping from tree to tree. _Like Tarzan with tentacles,_ Eddie thought, amused.

" **WHAT IS THAT?** "

_Piece of pop-culture. Started in the adventure pulps. There have been movies and stuff._

"WE SHALL WATCH THEM."

_Sure, whatever you want._

If Venom had his way, they'd be subscribed to every streaming service they came across. But Eddie didn't much like to be stuck in front of a teevee.

" **IT'S ON THE COMPUTER AND YOU'RE IN FRONT OF IT A LOT.** "

_It's not the same._

" **WHY NOT?** "

_It's not passive._

" **STORIES AREN'T PASSIVE. I'M LEARNING THE CULTURE.** "

_Well, I already *know* the culture._

" **EHHhh. YOU LIKE WATCHING THINGS WITH ME.** "

Eddie had to admit, he did. Though whether it was because it was entertaining to introduce Venom to his adopted home or because Venom himself enjoyed it, he wasn't sure.

" **DOES IT REALLY MATTER?** " Venom asked.

Eddie mused on that. _No. Guess it doesn't._

" **LET'S GO GET FISHES.** "

They Tarzanned back to the edge of the hiking path and took the walk back to the bike a little faster than Eddie could've alone. Instead of going back via the Golden Gate bridge, they drove around by San Quentin. Took about twice as long, but there were plenty of fishing-worthy spots along the way.

They didn't have a fishing license, but then, Eddie didn't really look like he was fishing, sitting on a low sea-wall, the bottoms of his boots teased by lapping water. It could've just been a trick of light that made his dark boots seem to ooze into the sea. Definitely wasn't a trick of the light that caused tentacles to shoot outward from the wall, grabbing some startled fish. They caught three or four at once, which Venom devoured. Then he left the tendrils trailing through the water like some ominous oil-slick encrusted ocean plant to wait till the fish got un-spooked and came back.

Eddie ate the ham sandwich he had tucked into his jacket, in the meantime. He felt good. Wind was a little chill, but the sun was glinting off the water and Venom's face grinned at him whenever he glanced down where his own reflection should be.

It was a quiet, peaceful feeling he achieved as the afternoon wore on and Venom caught more and more fish till they almost didn't feel hungry at all. Eddie watched the ripples and the sunlight glinting and listened to birds calling.

He thought this was what he wished meditation was like. Maybe it was if you were Mrs. Chen and you already had this stuff all figured out. He closed his eyes and tried to feel the water the way Venom was feeling it. Venom facilitated this as soon as he realized what Eddie was trying to do. How funny to be extended from his own body, which was still distantly taking care of autonomic functions above them. He spread out through the water and felt fish as they brushed against him and took experimental nibbles. He felt the sunlight filtered through salt water and the gentle motion.

"THIS IS SO WEIRD." It came out of Venom's mouth, displacing no water, though it still managed to startle some fish.

 **WHY? IT'S OUR BODY. I USE YOUR PARTS OF IT ALL THE TIME**.

_Guess it never occurred to me that it's a two-way street._

**WELL, WE ARE US. SO...**

_Yeah. Mi body es su body, I guess._

Eddie giggled. Venom joined him experimentally. The fish all fled. They oozed back to the human part of the body and continued to bust out in giggles periodically all along the 580.

Home was dark and cold and the breakfast dishes sat, grimly glinting with grease as Eddie shut the door behind them and Venom bolted it.

Eddie sighed. This was always the worst part of a free day. Coming back to regular life and dealing with the fact that there would be a tomorrow. No fresh starts. Just fresh light on old dust bunnies and unwashed dishes.

He sighed and cleaned them up and ordered some pizzas and hot wings.

**AND FRENCH FRIES.**

Eddie sighed again and added fries to the order before settling his ass in front of the television.

He had felt so clear in his mind when they were out and about. Free and focused. Coming home was like the clarity getting smeared with vaseline and cat hair. Nothing seemed obvious or easy anymore. Why couldn't he hold on to that feeling?

Venom, who had manifested a little, snake-like head beside Eddie's, turned to look at him. " **You're stewing.** "

"Yeah," Eddie admitted. "I wish it could always feel like walking in the woods or fishing in the sunshine."

" **What does it feel like now?** " Venom asked him, quirking the tiny head to the side as it regarded him.

"Cluttered and...full of impending doom. I don't know."

" **There is no doom, Eddie. I will protect us.** " If you'd told him that the symbiote could pout and look cute doing it three weeks ago, he would have been deeply skeptical. Now it was just all about not chuckling at him when he was being serious.

Venom hated that. Makes sense. Eddie always hated being patronized, too.

"Well, I'll try to absorb that through my thick skull," was all he said.

Venom snickered and then subsided into quiet as the door buzzed and Eddie let the pizza guy up. There must have been nothing that vibed wrong to the symbiote because he let Eddie answer the door alone, a long, thin tendril stretching between his back and the sofa where the Venom-snake was still watching tv.

"Thanks, man," Eddie said. He was glad they were making good enough money now that he could tip the guy well for hauling all that stuff.

"Sure thing. Have a good one,"

"You, too," he said as he closed the door. When he returned to the sofa, Venom dove head-first into one of the bags and came up with a mouth so full of fries that he looked like a mini-squid with tentacles at all angles.

Eddie did laugh at that.

" **What?** " Venom said through his fries.

"You're a dork," he said.

Venom squinted at him. " **I am not a dork.** "

"Of course you are. A dork is like a nerd with less dignity. That's you."

" **Well, I'm not one. You're one.** "

"Takes one to know one," said Eddie.

Venom spluttered before glowering at the television and crunching his way through two dozen hot wings, bones and all.

"I'm just teasing, you know. You're just cute, sometimes."

" **I am not cute. I am a fearsome interstellar warrior,** " Venom protested. It would've been more convincing if his entire head weren't covered in hot sauce and salt.

"You can be both," Eddie said.

" **I can?** " Venom looked at him. " **Okay. Then I am.** "

"Oh, that's all it took? Yeah. You can be more than one thing."

" **I am. I am me and also I am you.** "

"And we are Venom."

" **And we're Eddie,** " Venom agreed. He dove back into the fries bag.

"And we're gonna need a shower after this food," said Eddie. "I am covered in grease and you're covered in..."

Venom re-emerged with bits of fry stuck his sauce-covered head.

"...Everything," Eddie finished.

" **Give me some pizza!** "

"It's right here. Take what you want."

" **Feed it to me, Eddie. Pizza is hard with just tentacles.** "

"So make a hand."

" **But you already have two!** "

"Come on, man."

" **You come on, Eddie.** "

Eddie rolled his eyes. "Fine....cutie." He held out his folded slice and Venom chomped the end off.

" **You are the one who is cute...and a dork,** " said Venom.

"I thought we agreed that you were the cute one."

" **Why can't that be both, too?** "

"Guess it can. Just...don't think I look cute. Don't feel cute." Eddie shrugged.

Venom squinted at him. " **Is this your inadequate brain chemicals talking or something else?** "

Eddie shrugged again. "How would I know? It's me talking."

" **Okay,** " Venom said. In spite of his earlier protests, he made a hand to pick up his own slice of pizza. To Eddie's surprise, Venom held it out to his mouth. Eddie leaned forward and took a bite.

"Thanks," he said. He tried not to think about times that he and Annie would playfully feed each other take-out in front of the tv a lot like this. He wondered if that was something she was doing with Dan, now, or whether they were somehow more grown-up. Eddie imagined that they were. Nice, grown-up people in a nice, grown-up relationship and nice, grown-up habits.

" **STEWING!** " Venom accused.

"Yeah, well. Whatareyagonna do?" Eddie said.

In response, Venom swooped his head over and snuggled close, smearing everything he had been eating into Eddie's stubble and his ratty t-shirt.

"Hey!" Eddie said, but he was laughing. Venom grinned at him in response. They finished most of the pizza while mocking the late movie and then showered before toppling into bed.

" **This was a good day,** " said Venom as he pulled the blanket up to Eddie's chin.

"Yeah. Yeah, it was," Eddie was smiling into the darkness. He could feel that Venom was, too. The feeling of grimy routine had been replaced with a warm contentment. "It was good."

Venom didn't respond, just laid down across Eddie's chest and relaxed completely. Eddie felt the slight weight of him on every breath. It steadied him as he slipped into sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Muir Woods is gorgeous and has a sense of unutterable peace. You should go if you get the chance. 
> 
> Also, I have no idea if Eddie's consciousness can run Venom's body in canon, but I liked the notion too much to give it up regardless.


	3. Chapter 3

Their weekdays had already sunk into a peculiar sense of semi-normalcy here, just a few months in. Working at a newspaper was some odd hours, but not as much as tv on the spot reporting was, especially working in features as he found himself doing.   
  
There were more protracted peripatetic research sessions than there were late nights. Which suited them both. Venom preferred to use their late nights in the quest for sustenance. Eddie preferred to use them for taking stock and figuring out a new post-Annie, post-alien-partnership life plan.   
  
They did some of both. They had the freedom for it.   
  
It had been ages since Eddie had a job with proper office hours. He wasn't sure he relished it, but it was nice to have some stability while he was figuring other things out.   
  
And the paycheck was nicer still, even though it wasn't as big as the one he'd gotten when he had his own tv show.   
  
For his part, Venom was definitely still learning about his new home planet. The two of them were getting better at moving through the world undetected as Eddie learned to communicate better mind-to-mind and Venom got better at emulating "appropriate" human behavior when he was driving Eddie's form.   
  
Eddie had decided it was genuinely fun to show Venom around Earth (or at least the local corner of it). He liked it when humans managed to defy or exceed Venom's expectations. And he kind of enjoyed it even when Venom was just baffled.   
  
 **Why are so many people running?** Venom asked as they sat in a park near the paper's office, having a morning cup of coffee before work.  **Are they chasing prey?**  
  
"Who?"   
  
 **Like that guy there.**  Venom turned Eddie's head to regard a guy in leggings and some kind of sweat-wicking shirt as he went past.   
  
"Oh. He's not running. He's jogging."  
  
 **What's the difference?  
**  
"I think uh...running is faster? They're both basically exercise, though."   
  
 **Like your heavy things in the apartment?  
**  
"Yeah, like my weights," Eddie confirmed.  
 **  
You don't have to pick up heavy objects, but you still want to be able to. And he doesn't have to run to catch food, but he still wants to be able to.**  
  
"Eh...not exactly, buddy," Eddie said. "People mostly think that exercise will make them healthier or look better."   
  
Eddie could feel Venom's wave of frustration.  
  
"Cardio is definitely good for the human body," Eddie explained. "Getting your heart rate up for a while helps with a lot of bodily processes in muscles and organs and brains."   
  
 **Why aren't we doing this...cardio, then?  
**  
"I do plenty of running around with you," Eddie said tucking his mouth against the lid of the coffee cup since another jogger was pounding by.  
  
 **We should do what keeps you healthy.  
**  
"I hate jogging, though," Eddie protested.   
  
 **Why?  
**  
"It's boring."   
  
 **What would you rather do instead?  
**  
Eddie thought about it. "Hike. A climbing wall. Dance..."  
  
Venom was silent a moment.  **All right. We'll do those things. There's a wall right there.**  
  
Eddie laughed. "A climbing wall is a special wall with handholds and stuff. They have particular gyms for them. Which we don't have money for yet."   
  
 **What about your heights fear?  
**  
"Most climbing walls are not that high," Eddie explained.   
  
Venom sighed.  **Then what's the point?  
**  
"Exercising in a fun way that gets your whole body engaged."   
  
 **Nothing is at the top of the wall?  
**  
"Not really."  
  
Venom sat silent again long enough for Eddie to finish the coffee and point them towards work.   
  
Eddie had been reading through some clippings he'd pulled from the archives later that morning when he noticed that venom was typing on the keyboard of the work laptop. Eddie looked around quickly, but everyone was occupied with their own work and Venom was being admirably subtle. So he let him continue and kept going through the old articles.   
  
When his editor came by at lunch time, Eddie quickly snapped his eyes to his screen, but it was clear. Venom had apparently finished whatever he was looking up. Or he had noticed the editor before Eddie had.   
  
"Yeah Phyl, What's up?" He asked. Phyllis was a woman in her sixties who wore tailored menswear and had a close cropped halo of near-white natural hair that framed her dark skin beautifully. She took no guff but had all the smile lines. Eddie really liked her.   
  
"Just wanted to see how the Cassady piece was coming," she said.   
  
"Fine. It's fine. Doing some background work." He held up the clippings folder.   
  
"Going to have anything smaller in the meantime?"   
  
"Maybe. Met a venture capital guy on the weekend and I thought I might do a culture and lack-of-diversity piece on them if you think it'd fit."   
  
"Hmmm...Do an outline and come pitch it to me. And see if you can get any of them to actually talk to you."   
  
"Wilco, boss."   
  
She smiled at him and polished her glasses on a plaid handkerchief she pulled from an inner pocket. "You've got a good attitude, Brock. Glad to see your work ethic is living up to it."   
  
"Thank you," he said. It was gratifying to hear someone call his doggedness a good attitude. He's sure that his old producer and Annie would both have other words for it.  
  
"Shut up and go get lunch. You haven't eaten yet. I know."   
  
Eddie didn't bother to tell her that was because him and his better half had eaten an entire harbor seal that morning and it was sitting a little heavy in their body. "Yes, Ma'am," he said, and stood.   
  
She snorted, looking up at him. "Enough buttering me up. Go."   
  
He went.   
  
Better keep his oozy black friend fed if he wanted to keep his co-workers or his own liver off the menu.   
 **  
We'd never eat Phyl. She is good. And she takes care of you.**  
  
"Not really her job, bud."   
 **  
No! My job. But she does it anyway. We wouldn't eat her even if we'd actually covered her with butter.**  
  
"Not what buttering her up means."  
  
 **I know,**  Venom said. Eddie could feel the eye-roll bone deep.  **It was a joke.  
**  
"Nice!"   
  
 **You didn't laugh.  
**  
"Sometimes it's hard to tell when you're joking when you talk about eating people."   
 **  
Hm...Yeah. I could see how that could be hard,**  Venom conceded.   
  
"You were nice and quiet all morning, bud. I got a lot done. Want to pick lunch? Whatever you want as long as we can afford it."   
  
 **Liver? Fresh ones?**  
  
"Hipster butcher shop it is," he said.   
  
Eddie had done some research and started spreading his weird purchases out. But the hipster butcher shop that had free-range, grass-fed beef and other similar delicacies got a lot of his trade. He'd have probably fit in better if he'd slap on a little mustache wax, but that felt pretty far to go just to keep himself under the radar.   
  
And he'd hate to be recognized that way. Very off-brand.  
  
He was sure the butcher (whose substantial mustache was waxed within an inch of its life into epic curls at its edges) thought he was some kind of foodie. In there at least once a week to buy random animal organs.   
  
He did indeed have some fresh liver. "In from the farm this morning," he said. "How many pounds would you like?"   
  
"How many have you got?"   
  
Eddie bought all that was available - 17 pounds in the form of one cow liver and one pig liver. He had a favorite alley spot a few streets over where he could consume the raw liver without horrifying any of the shiny happy citizens of the city. It wasn't the best view, sitting to the side of a dumpster and watching Venom tuck in quickly. At least Venom had no problem with skipping table manners.   
  
Since the whole turnaround time was only twenty minutes or so, he went and bought a slice of chocolate cake and ate it sitting at the counter of the little bakery at the corner of the building the paper was in.   
  
 **I like chocolate cake** , Venom thought at him as they stepped onto the elevator.   
  
"Well if we're going to be having a lot of it, I guess I better get with the cardio."   
  
 **Yes. We're going to be doing cardio.**  
  
"Oh, we are? Are we?"   
  
 **Yes. What you do, I do.**    
  
Eddie sighed as they stepped off the elevator and into a busy afternoon of more research and calls.   
  
When they returned home that night (with a whole chocolate cake. Venom had insisted) Eddie was pretty beat. He slumped onto the sofa.   
  
Venom was reaching his tongue out towards the cake he'd slung onto the coffee table.   
  
"Get a fork, schmuck," Eddie protested.   
  
Venom rolled his eyes. "Seems like just more stuff to wash if I use a fork."   
  
"Makes it less necessary to wash you, though."   
  
Venom shrugged and spun out a tendril towards the kitchen. Eddie let his eyes sink closed.   
  
His phone buzzed in his pocket and he fished it out.   
  
"Who is it?" venom asked, hovering over his shoulder to peek.  
  
"It's Dan."   
  
Dr. D: What's up, buddy? You up to anything?  
  
"What does he want?"   
  
"Dunno," said Eddie.   
  
E: Not much. You?  
  
Dr. D: Similar.   
  
Venom was shoveling cake into his mouth with a pie server.   
  
"That is..."  
  
"Delicious," Venom finished, flashing him a chocolatey grin. He had frosting all over his gleaming teeth.   
  
"Horrifying," Eddie finished.   
  
Dr. D: Is V around?   
  
E: ...  
Pretty much always.   
  
Dr. D: I mean, would he mind talking to me?  
  
"He wants to talk to you," Eddie said.   
  
"He does?" Venom was already nearing the end of the cake, scraping up stray bits with the pie server. He swept the cardboard box with his tongue. "Okay."   
  
Eddie handed the phone over. Venom carefully cradled the phone in amorphous blackness and stared at it, typing occasionally.   
  
So he wouldn't have to just sit there wondering what they were talking about, Eddie got up to wash the dinner dishes and clean up the spittle-covered bakery box.   
  
He was flipping through his records, thinking idly about putting something on when Venom hovered over and offered him back his phone.   
  
He glanced down at it and the last text on the screen was Dan's question to him.   
  
"Did it not work for you or something?"  
  
"It did. I deleted the texts."   
  
"What? Why?"   
  
"Because Dan asked me to and you're always telling me how important privacy is to humans."  
  
"But it's my phone."  
  
"Dan asked," Venom countered. "We like Dan. So we respect his wishes."  
  
"Guess I can't argue with that. Guess you can't talk about it, then, either?"  
  
"That would seem to be not respecting the privacy, yeah," said Venom.   
  
"Nothing bad though? You'd tell me if he needs help or something, right?"   
  
"Should I? Even if he asks me not to?"   
  
Eddie thought about that. "I guess it's a judgement call," he admitted.   
  
"How do I figure out when to go against what someone asks for?"   
  
"I'd say in broad strokes, if they're going to be hurt or they're going to hurt someone else, we could consider doing something even if they don't want us to."  
  
"Something like what?" Venom asked.  
  
"Depends on what the situation is," Eddie said.   
  
Venom's irritation with human niceties was coming through the bond in waves.   
  
"Okay, well, like - in the Hospital, when Annie tore us apart..."  
  
Venom hissed.   
  
"She did it because I was being hurt and because you were hurting Dan."   
  
"But later we killed people."  
  
"Who were about to hurt me," Eddie pointed out.   
  
"Okay, so...people we care about, we help them. People we don't like, we don't help them."   
  
"Well, no. it's not that simple," Eddie protested.   
  
Venom growled and sank back into his skin.  **SHOW ME**. He said.  **SHOW ME WHAT YOU MEAN.**  
  
Eddie thought about years of journalism helping to get the truth, even when sometimes it hurt people who were friendly or helped people he didn't care for. He thought about how his dad used to be full of contempt for people like Maria, without really knowing them, just because they didn't have material wealth. He thought about Annie in court all day, defending people regardless of whether they were guilty or innocent because everyone deserved fair treatment.   
  
 **THIS IS ALL SO ABSTRACT.**  Venom protested. **ALSO WE DON'T FIGHT IN THE SAME SYSTEM ANNIE DOES.**  
  
"We kind of do," Eddie protested.   
  
 **WE DO NOT. WE OPERATE OUTSIDE IT. OR WE'D BE IN JAIL FOR EATING PEOPLE.**  
  
Eddie had to concede that.   
  
"Okay, well, think about it this way. Her system and our system are part of the same larger system. She cares that the rules are followed for everyone. She wants people to have as fair a shot as they can get in a system where money counts for more than it should."  
  
Venom didn't respond, but Eddie could tell he was still listening.   
  
"We care about the truth in a system where money counts for more than it should. Annie tries to make sure people follow the rules of fairness when dealing with people who have no money. We try to make sure people follow rules of fairness when dealing with everyone.   
  
Venom's hmmm vibrated through their chest. **This is why we only eat bad people. They are people who are unfair to others.**  
  
"Yup," Eddie agreed.   
  
 **I don't see how this relates to privacy.**  
  
Eddie sighed. "Okay, well, sometimes people aren't fair to themselves. If a friend tells us they're going to hurt themselves or put themselves in a situation where they'll get hurt and we can keep that from happening, I think we should probably do it."   
  
 **Why would someone hurt themselves?**  
  
"Well, like if they were really depressed. Some people get depressed and hurt themselves or even kill themselves."  
  
 **WHAT?**  Venom sounded horrified.   
  
"Yeah. It's...it's one of the ways that humans can be sick. People die of it...kind of a lot, actually."   
  
 **HOW COME THE DOCTORS HAVEN'T CURED THIS?**  
  
"They're trying. They have some treatments, but no cure. And people have to be willing to get the treatments for them to even maybe help. And not every person is helped by the same treatments, so it's a whole crapshoot."  
  
 **HOW COULD A SPECIES BE SO SELF-DESTRUCTIVE AND BAD AT TAKING CARE OF ITSELF AND STILL SPREAD OVER THE WHOLE SURFACE OF THIS PLANET?**  
  
Eddie shrugged. "A lot of us ask the same question. Sheer numbers, I guess."   
  
 **How would we tell if one of our friends has this brain disease?**    
  
"We'd have to pay attention and look for the signs."  
  
 **Is this why we're always going to see Anne and Dan and Mrs. Chen even though we don't need to in order to talk with them?**  
  
"Well...part of the reason. Making sure they're okay. Also, we like spending time with them."  
  
 **And we will not allow any brain diseases to take them** , Venom said firmly.  
  
"Not if we can help it. Yeah," Eddie agreed.   
  
 **How do we learn what to look for?**  
  
"We can read up on that some," Eddie said. "I guess Dan could give you some of the medical side of it."   
  
Eddie winds up falling asleep over the laptop in the midst of Venom's research. When Venom headbutts him to wake him and usher him to bed, he glances at his phone and sees email receipts for a few books as well as a membership to the YMCA.   
  
"What? Why are we going to the Y?"   
  
"They have a pool," Venom informed him. "You like swimming. And it's good cardio. And cheaper than the climbing gym."   
  
"Oh. Good thought."  
  
"Plus they have more heavy things than we have here."  
  
"We moving their couch?" Eddie asked groggily.   
  
"For strength training."   
  
"You have been reading up."   
  
"Everything about you people is needlessly complicated," Venom grumbled.   
  
"Yeah, but it's fun," Eddie said as V pulled the sheet up.   
  
"Go to sleep," was Venom's only response.   
  
Eddie decided it was good advice and to take it. The lit screen of the phone didn't keep him up too long, even as Venom read into the night.

 


End file.
